Variant Elemental Cosmology

[Nifft]

Here's the core of it:

Elemental Earth sits in the center surrounded by the icy Void. Upon the Earth grows Wood -- a vast canopy miles high, fed by the light of the Fire and the rich Ooze of Earth and Water. The Wood is slowly eaten by Fire, which provides illumination. Fire melts the icy Void, releasing Water, but leaving Storm and Ash in its wake. As Fire leaves an area, the Storms slacken and their Water falls, mixing with the Ash to form a mucky Ooze.


Now for Topology:

Fire borders Storm, Ash and Wood.

Earth borders Ooze, Wood and Ash.

Water borders Storm, Ice and Ooze.

Air borders everything but Earth.


Mechanically:

Ash is a catch-all for Smoke, Metal, Gem, and Magma.

Ooze is mud, acid and toxins, but it's also Mists and any non-violent weather effect.

Storm is the element for [Electricity] effects. I've been annoyed that Air is [Electricity] in D&D for a while. Air should be [Sonic].

The Icy Void either is, or borders upon, the plane of Shadow.

Wood, Fire, Ash, Storm, Ooze, Air, Water: These regions are dynamic. They move (with some regularity). Locations within these areas are temporary.

Earth, Ice: These areas are static. Locations are stable.

Places:

A colossal Brass dish hovers on the wings of Storm, on the edge of Flame. This is the fabled city of the Efreet, and a gateway to a realm of eternal metal and infernal fire: Hell.

At the other end of the Storm, within the arms of endless cloud banks, float the myriad palaces of the Djinn. They dance amid the updrafts, constructed of the finest and lightest woods available.

 

[Khorod]

Very interesting.

First a question: Are you saying the earth is physically surrounded by these elemental regions, or are you being poetically metaphorical about the positioning of the elemental planes around the material?

 

[Telgian]

Storm is the element for [Electricity] effects. I've been annoyed that Air is [Electricity] in D&D for a while.

Agree with you there. Glad I'm not the only one who found it ... annoying. Associating earth with acid is also a pet peeve.

I like the dyanamic regions, having the location change. It's a nice touch.

Telgian.

 

[Nifft]

Very interesting.

First a question: Are you saying the earth is physically surrounded by these elemental regions, or are you being poetically metaphorical about the positioning of the elemental planes around the material?

When I say "earth", I mean "Elemental Earth".

As to Physics, I'd pictured the Elemental planes happening in an 5-dimensional macrosphere* (on a hypercylinder of Earth), such that the concentrated energy could be much higher per space-unit, but disperse much more quickly per distance-unit -- otherwise, having Wood both feed and grow-in-the-light-of Fire makes no sense. Finally, having two spare dimensions lets the Elemental planes be infinite in volume yet still have finite 3-dimensional borders.

Does that make sense?

-- Nifft

* The inspiration for this high-dimension model comes from Greg Egen's book Diaspora, which is mind-blowingly awesome.

 

[Nifft]

The Plane of Wood

It is an endless canopy of green.
It feeds on the light of its own consumption.
It is the synthesis of bright flame and icy shadow, air and water -- a disorderly riot of ordered growth.

Wood is a bit of a misnomer, for while the region most resembles a colossal stack of forrests upon jungles upon marshes and swamps, the composition of its flora is beyond that of mere prime-plane flora.

The slow-growing denizens of this region combine substances which resemble prime-plane plants with metal alloys, crystals, and even weave threads of Shadow-matter into their verdant expanse.

Near the feeding flames of Fire, Shardvine grows, its crystal leaves immune to all but the hottest flames. It takes what little of the whelming light it requires, re-directing the rest deeper into the foliage.

Towards the top of the canopy, one can see thread-like vines digging deep into the sweating ice -- perhaps the crust of the shadowy Void. In this twilight region Umbral Banyans snare unlucky travelers. Occasionally a branch of a Shardvine will grow to here, uncurling like a trail of stars in the darkness. Travelers are advised to follow them to safer regions.

Deep within the Wooded region there is a transition to Earth, but it is not sudden -- the very Earth is lifted by the riot of growth upon it, as roots go deep and carry up chunks of rock and soil. Here one will find a greater integration of metal with wood -- indeed, here one can find Ironwood with little trouble, and tales tell of plants which, when prepared with lightning and immersed in elemental Fire, yeild pure adamantium.

Away from the burning Flames, one finds the vast mangroves, swamps and mossy expanses which actively reclaim the surface from the slimes and fungi which compose the Ooze region's confused mix of flora and fauna. Here one finds illumination mostly from myriad arcs of lightning, each blasting through the eternal Storm with innundates the Oozy region. This border of the Wood region is wet, windy, foggy, rainy and very treacherous. It is said that cruel Devils sow the seeds of razorvine liberally here.

The heart of the Wood region is as beautiful as one would expect: lush, awash with pale green light, and sparkling from a thousand Shardvine leaves and a dusting of misty dew. Here the pantheon of the Elves create portals to their realms, around which capricous fey cavort.


Mechanics

Wood is porus and supportive from top to bottom, but there's often no straight-forward way to get from one location to another without flying, climbing or both. Climbing is not difficult -- Wood provides a rough surface, many hand and foot-holds, and it is usually soft enough to drive in pitons.

Flight is very useful, but travelers are cautioned to fly slowly -- a wall of leaves can hide a mile-wide trunk as easily as it can denote the presence of an open space.


-- Nifft

 

[Khorod]

Best description of an Elemental Plane of Wood I ever read.

Okay, I think understand what you're getting at now. I can't believe I was thinking World of Earth instead of Plane.

So, where is this in relation to the Material Plane? Do the shifting planes effect elemental magics on the Material?

Ash is a catch-all for Smoke, Metal, Gem, and Magma.

How does this work? I can see Ash effectively encompassing Smoke, and I can reason out a third cousin dog-walker tie to magma, but how do you get Metal and Gem in there?


I totally agree about Storm and electricity. My pet peeve with the elemental domains has been a bit broader- all spells in a domain should deal directly with the elemental force of that domain. I don't consider Air or Water to properly represent their elements.

Of course, the need to keep the number of domains down for the sake of clerical sanity is probably why you get such combinations- they wanted a 'Storm' guy, but didn't want to make something that seemed at all reduntant to the concept of 'lots of wind'.

 

[Nifft]

Thanks!

About the Ash region:

Gems -- consider the leaves of the Shardvine, after having undergone intense pressure and heat. That's just one way gems end up in Ash. From WotC's MotP, I recall Wood Elemental Creatures having gem-like eyes. Ash isn't the only place to find gems, but it's a good place to find them un-attached.

Metal -- yeah, there's a lot of metal outside of Ash, but since Wood can grow incorporating Metal into its structure, when Wood has burned, what's left is a skeleton of pure ore or of a single alloy, assuming it doesn't melt into a river of molten metal.

Smoke -- pretty obvious.

Magma -- "Ash" is a catch-all for "stuff left over after Fire has exhausted its fuel", and the Earth that's been super-heated takes a while to cool down. (Earth gets heated quite a bit because the root system of Wood goes very deep, and all of that burns, too.)

I'd be happy with an Ash Para-Elemental being smoky, or made of magma, or some combination thereof.

Relating the Elemental to the Prime Material -- I have no clue. IMC, it's not an issue. Sure, feel free to have the Great Cycle blaze across your world -- I don't think it fits particularly well with seasons, though.

Here's my energy-plane breakdown:

Storm: Electricity
Air: Sonic (Harmonic)
Fire: Fire
Ice: Cold
Ooze: Acid
Water: Sonic (Concussive)
Earth: Bludgeoning
Wood: Piercing
Metal, Gem: Slashing

-- Nifft

 

[Khorod]

Okay, now I get what you're doing with Ash.
I think that would be the next plane to describe

I think some of the elementals that could be created with this will be very kewl.

As far as Material plane tie-ins, I meant on a planar level. Is this planar system a replacement for the inner planes?

Since the source of all fire is a moving plane, might that effect supernatural fires on the prime material?

You left out Force on your energy table. Maybe that's okay. I usually line that up with interdimensional energies- drawing on the force that keeps the planes separate. In the case of this system, maybe Force is Planar Gravity?

 

[Nifft]

The way I view incorporeal and "etherial" creatures is that they occupy a matrix of wormholes between the four-dimensional Prime Material macrosphere and the six-dimensional Elemental macrosphere. Force effects are manipulations of those wormholes in the between. This is why Force effects are effective vs. incorporeal critters, IMC.

Yes, I see this cosmography (nice word) as replacing the traditional Elemental Planes.

I don't see the "moving Fire" having any noticable effect on the Prime Material plane -- Elemental Fire is very big, and moves very slowly, compared to seasons on Earth, IMC. However, feel free to make any part mean anything you'd like in your world -- that aspect simply doesn't appeal to me personally.

Elementals: yeah, let me get some of my ideas down on "paper". I think we're thinking along similar lines

-- Nifft

 

[Khorod]

I seem to be latched onto this concept. These planes move like 'seasons'.

So might a material planar ice-age correlate to the plane of fire being on the other end of the planar system? (Oh, wait, maybe its just an orbit- well either way)...


Maybe every thousand years a different element is in a slightly dominant position. Plants came into existance in prime the last time Wood was dominant, the Dinosaurs went extinct when Fire gained control, etc.

Just an idea for tying the elemental planes in so non-plane traveling spellcasters can feel the impact.